The Pleasure in Reading a Good Novel … and Watching Its Film Adaptation

“I never look at it,” said Catherine, as they walked along the side of the river, “without thinking of the south of France.”

“You have been abroad then?” said Henry, a little surprised.

“Oh! No, I only mean what I have read about. It always puts me in mind of the country that Emily and her father travelled through, in The Mysteries of Udolpho. But you never read novels, I dare say?”

“Why not?”

“Because they are not clever enough for you–gentlemen read better books.”

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe`s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again; I remember finishing it in two days–my hair standing on end the whole time.”

This conversation between Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney occurred during a walk around Beechen Cliff near Bath, Northanger Abbey, Chapter 14. The ITV film adaptation is coming to PBS’s Masterpiece Classic, Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 9 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. Central. Will Henry say these immortal words to Catherine in the film? Stay tuned and find out.

5 Responses

Looking forward to this one! I have not read the novel and I don’t think I saw the 1985 adaptation (was that really the only one?!) so I’m not familiar with the story. This will either mean I won’t be disappointed with the new adaptation or I won’t have any idea what’s going on.

He almost says it. I enjoy this one, actually, though they of course take some liberties. However, as adaptations go, it’s pretty decent. In some ways it manages to shave away some of the weird things Austen did in this one…I always think that she simply got tired of the book by the end and sort of went “meh, whatever, I’m just going to be difficult and rambly now.” They got rid of some of what makes me think that.

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Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Richmond, VA. I work in program and professional development at Virginia Commonwealth University, and I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, I do accept and keep books, DVDs and CDs to review.

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Irresistible Attraction

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My Regency Tea Cup Review Ratings

Five Regency tea cups: The book is not perfect (few books are), but it was well worth its purchase and possesses many outstanding qualities that makes it stand head and shoulders above its counterparts.

Four Regency tea cups: This book offered many hours of pleasant reading, and I found I could not put it down.

Three Regency tea cups: Damned with faint praise. I put the book down often, but was intrigued enough to finish it. In this instance, the movie might be better.

Two Regency tea cups: This book required major changes that the author and editor should have fixed before publishing deadline.

One Regency tea cup: Oh dear. I do so feel for the trees that sacrificed their lives for this verbal garbage.